Delegated Social Services Systems in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine

The policy paper “Delegated Social Services Systems in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine” was produced within the EaP CSF Re-granting project “Advanced Reforms, Advanced Civil Society”. The goal of the project was to contribute to decentralization of social service system in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine and the effectiveness of service delegation laws. The study was prepared by Armavir Development Center (Armenia) along with its partners from the Bureau of Social and Political Developments (Ukraine) and provides a comprehensive assessment of the legal frameworks of social services in the three EaP countries, which mainly covered social services funding, market creation and development through further involvement of NGOs .

The authors argue that the decentralization of social services will increase general quality of providing these service and will guarantee more transparency and good governance in the field of providing these services. Moreover, this will allow local authorities to enjoy right to advocate rights of citizens in much more effective manner, while improving the quality of local democracy.

Based on this assessment, the authors developed a list of recommendations for each country to take the necessary steps towards an effective decentralisation process of social services.